Journey Across Time
by Ashleyd2011
Summary: Draco and Hermione are muggles at high school. 15 years earlier a prophecy was born, that said the fate of the wizarding world is in the hands of two muggles. Will they be willing to set aside their differences and save a world they've never known?
1. You Punched You're Locker Eh?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

The year was 1993 and the entire wizarding world was in an uproar. One of the most famous oracles had just announced a prophecy; a prophecy that could save or destroy them forever.

"A day will come when the power to decide between good and evil once and for all will be put into the hands of two ordinary teens, a boy and a girl. Their road won't be easy, for both sides will try to sway them. Unfortunately only once the two can learn to set aside their differences and work together will anything at all be possible."

There was more to it than that...but no one payed much attention to that. They were too preoccupied with the thought that good (or evil) could someday reign for all eternity.

One brave witch decided to travel to the muggle world as a principal to find these two teens. However, so did a wizard, disguised as a janitor. Both went to find the children of the prophecy, but only one went for the good of the world. Little did they know it would take 15 years to find them.

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"Draco Malfoy! You get back here right now!" Heads turned as two students went running through the halls. Just minutes ago, Hermione Granger had been sitting in the library in her usual spot, when a shadow had appeared next to her. She had payed it no attention, though now she wished she had. Not two minutes later, she was stuck chasing this blockhead down the hallways trying to get her journal back.

"Come on Granger, you'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with me!" He looked back at her and stuck his tongue out, but those few seconds were all he needed to run straight into a wall of lockers. She was standing right in front of him now, glaring.

"Alright Malfoy, you've got nowhere else to go, so just hand it over and nobody has to get hurt."

This made him smirk, "Oh really?" Then he went and opened the book to one of the latest pages. Everyone was inching closer, trying not to look like they were paying attention. He opened his mouth to start reading, but never got the chance. A fist connected with his nose, and he could feel something warm and wet dripping down his face. He dropped the book and grabbed his nose, trying not to let tears roll out of his eyes. He was about to start yelling at the witch, but realized she was already turning a corner, her journal firmly in her hands.

Everyone around him was trying to stifle their laughter, they all knew the kind of temper he had, but one really couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Draco stormed down the hallway to the nurse's office, trying to come up with a reason for his bloody nose. He wanted better revenge than just a trip to the principal's office.

When he got to where he was going, he knocked on the door, and a kind looking lady opened up, took one look at his face and gasped. Did he really look that bad? The nurse pulled him inside and pushed him onto one of the cots. "What on earth happened to your face Mr. Malfoy?" She was rummaging through some cupboards, and walked back over with some gauze.

"I wasn't looking where I was going and I slammed into a locker." There, that was true at least. He took the gauze and held it up to his nose, and tilted his head back.

She didn't look totally convinced by this, but didn't ask any more questions. "Well, I'll send a note to your teachers. I want to take a look at that after it stops bleeding." Haha, at least something good came out of this; he got to skip AP EURO.

***************

Hermione walked back to the library and started packing up her stuff, lunch would be over in 5 minutes, and she had to walk to the other side of the school to get to her AP Euro class. She felt quite pleased with herself, she'd never had the nerve to do that before, but sometimes he just made her so mad. At lease her mom had been right about one thing, punching noses didn't really hurt too badly. It did feel a little bruised though. Maybe she should go to the nurse and ask for some ice.

When she walked into the classroom she looked around and found her friend Jenna sitting near the back, so she went over and sat down. Jenna looked up, and the look on her face said she was dying to talk. "You'll never believe what I just heard! Apparently some girl punched Draco Malfoy in the face during lunch! Isn't that awesome?" She was smiling as she said this.

"Yeah, awesome, does anyone know who did it?" She really hoped no one would rat her out the Principle, she'd seen enough of her, to last a life time, and it was only the first tri of her sophomore year.

"Not that I know of, I just know she had brown curly hair, and a pink shirt….kinda like you." She had her thinking look on now. "Hermione, let me see your hand." Crap, her friend really was too smart for her own good. She handed Jenna her left hand. "No, your right hand."

"Fine, it was me. Happy now?" Jenna was hysterical.

"I can't believe you finally did it! I mean, we've talked about getting even before, but I never thought you'd actually do it!"

"Hush up! I don't want anyone to know. If Principle Annie hears even a whisper about this I'll be stuck with kitchen duty for a month!" Jenna only had time for a quick, "fine," before the bell rang, and Mr. Burke started class.

Hermione looked around and realized that Malfoy was missing. She was starting to feel a little guilty, what if she had broken his nose? Oh well, she thought, he definitely deserved what he got.

***************

After class was over, Hermione headed to the nurses office. About halfway through class, her hand was throbbing and she wanted nothing more than a nice ice pack. Unfortunately when she knocked on the door and it opened, she saw Malfoy laying on one of the cots. "What can I help you with dear?"

"Hi, I need some ice for my hand. My locker was jammed and I punched it. Locker opened, hand bruised." She really hoped the nurse would buy her story. After all, she did punch her locker a lot. And who knows, it might have been more believable if her punching bad wasn't sitting 3 feet away with a broken nose.

"You punched your locker huh? Why don't you have a sit on that bed over there and I'll be with you in a minute." Ok, so she wasn't totally convinced, but things could be worse.

***************

Principle Annie DeBoard was sitting in her office drinking a nice hot cup of coffee, and thinking about her mission. It had been 15 years since she'd entered the muggle world in search of those kids. She'd seen millions, but none who fit the prophecy, and she was starting to lose hope of ever finding them.

Then she heard her phone ring. "Principle DeBoard speaking, how can I help you?"

"Uh, hello Miss Deboard, this is Nurse Jackie. I think you might want to come down to my office ASAP." Great, someone probably had lice or something, and she'd be stuck fixing things. Sometimes she really missed using magic.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up and walked out of her office. On her way, she kept thinking of all the possible reasons she would need to see the nurse: food poisoning, chicken pox, another STD outbreak. She never expected what she found.

The door opened and Hermione and Draco both looked up to see a stunned principle staring at them. It only took her a few seconds to piece together the puzzle, a boy with a bloody nose and a girl with a bag of ice on her fist. "Jackie, can I have a few minutes with them please?" The students both cringed, they knew perfectly well how pissed their principle could get.

As soon as the door closed she exploded. "What were you thinking?! What could he have possibly done to deserve a punch in the face?" Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but Annie DeBoard wasn't finished. "I don't want to know. Why can't you two go more than a day without trying to kill each other? Is getting along really so hard? If it's not violence it's dumping beans on each other!"

Draco smirked at this. That had been one hell of a day, and quite a lot of clean up duty. "So you think that's funny huh? Just wait till you hear what I've got planned for you this time." She glimpsed Hermione laugh and stick her tongue out at him. "And don't look so smug Miss Granger, you're gonna wish you were back scrubbing the floors when I'm done with you two. Report to my office today right after school and we'll get started."

She walked out of the room, and sent the nurse back in to patch them up. On the way back to her office she started to think about the last year she'd spent with Draco and Hermione. All the fights and trouble they'd gotten into. How rich his family was, and smart they both were. She rushed back to her office and grabbed a copy of the prophecy. They fit it perfectly.

***************

As 3:00 rolled around, Principal Annie was sitting behind her desk making a plan. The prophecy was very specific when it said the two had to get along, and Annie was no fool. She knew that that task alone would be difficult. If only she could make them see just how important it was. Of course that wasn't an option, it was against the rules to tell muggles about magic.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a muffled shout of, "Get out of my way moron!" Oh joy, she thought, they're here.

"Come in." The door opened and Draco and Hermione entered the office and took their seats. "As I'm sure you guys know, this school has a zero tolerance for violence. However, I'm willing to overlook that for now. Instead, you two are gonna spend the next week cleaning the school, before and after school. Today you'll start with the Home EC classroom. Everything you need is already there, and Joe will escort you there, to make sure you get the job done." As she said this an almost giant like man entered the room.

Draco and Hermione stood up, and barely came up to the man's chest. They couldn't do anything but stare at him. "Well, are you going to get to work or just stand there gaping like a fish?" The principal's voice got them moving. She was amazed they had made it so long without fighting. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

"Get out of my way freak, ladies first."

"I don't see any ladies."

"Oh real nice Malfoy, just move over already." They were shoving each other, trying to get through the doorway. Apparently it was too much to hope for.

***************

Great, how was she going to explain this to George and Marie. Hermione knew very well how sick her foster parents were of all the trouble she kept getting into. Before she had moved to Sherwood to live with them she had been the perfect student: straight A's, honor roll, no trouble ever. But as soon as she had met Draco Malfoy all the changed. She still loved school, and learning, but she was in trouble all the time, and she was always losing her focus in class. Why did Malfoy have to be such a pain in the ass? It had been bad enough moving to a new town just in time for high school, wearing hand me downs, and a bush for hair. Draco Malfoy practically ruled the school. He was smart when he wanted to be, rich, always had everything, girls always all over him. And as soon as he found out she was just a poor little orphan girl, he'd been her tormentor.

Not that she ever let him win without a fight. And that was part of the problem. She always let herself get sucked in, whether it was dumping chili down his shirt or punching him in the face. This thought made her smile a little bit. As much as she was going to pay when she got home, she couldn't help remembering how good it felt to see the tears in his eyes and the blood on his face.

***************

When they entered the Home EC room, they both gasped. It looked like someone had decided to have a food fight in there. Miss. Johnson, the teacher, walked out of her office when she heard the door close. "Well hello there, sorry about the mess. One of the guys decided to show off his throwing skills, and missed the trash. Needless to say the girl with a banana peel on her head wasn't too happy, and next thing you know 20 kids are flinging food all over the place. I was going to make them clean it up, but then I heard Miss Deboard say she was looking for a punishment."

Hermione looked over towards Malfoy and saw him looking more disgusted by the second. "You mean we're going to clean THIS up? Do we get a magical wand to sweep it away? Cause that's the only way I'm doing this."

The good humored Miss Johnson seemed to disappear. "No Mr. Malfoy, I suggest you get started, cause you're not leaving this room till this room is spotless. And I mean SPOTLESS, or are you just too good to pay for your actions?"

"My actions? All I did was get punched in the face! This witch should have to do this by herself."

Hermione was getting fed up with him. "Witch? Wow how original Malfoy. And you know you totally deserved it. Now stop your stupid whining, pick up a sponge, and start scrubbing the counters." After saying this, she went over to the table with the supplies, grabbed a sponge and flung it at his head, then grabbed a broom and started sweeping up the scattered French fries.

"Miss Johnson! Are you going to let her treat me like that?" If there was one thing Draco hated, it was being beat in an argument, which seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"Mr. Malfoy, I didn't see anything. Now get started, I have errands to run. Joe will be outside, so don't even think about ditching." She gave Hermione a wink, and then she and Joe left the room.

Draco wasn't used to being treated like this. Usually teachers let him get away with anything, knowing what his father could do to this school. And he was stuck in this class, cleaning, with the stupid orphan girl who had just about broken his nose earlier. He looked over at her, sweeping with a smirk on her face, and got even more pissed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see that Draco wasn't doing anything but sitting on one of the counters watching her work. She turned around, "Get your lazy ass of that counter and start working." He just looked at her. "Come on already, we've been at this an hour, and you still haven't done anything."

"That's not true. I cleaned off this counter before I sat on it. Wouldn't want to get my new jeans dirty."

She glared at him. "If you don't start working I'm going to call Joe in here. Something tells me he won't be too happy." As much as Joe scared him, Draco wasn't going to admit it, so he decided to just keep sitting there.

Hermione was fed up, and walked over to the door. She opened it and Draco heard some talking, but couldn't understand what they were saying. She walked back in and went back to mopping. Draco smirked, but it was wiped off his face when Joe walked into the room after her and stood right in front of him. "Well Mr. Malfoy, why aren't you helping this nice young lady clean this up?" His voice was low and Draco could sense he wasn't a man to be crossed.

"My nose was getting a little sore, so I decided to take a break. I was just about to get back to work." He could hear Hermione snort across the room, but ignored her. Joe gave him one more look before returning to the hall. Grumbling, Draco jumped down and grabbed the sponge and went back to scrubbing the gunk out of the sink, all the while thinking up a way to get her back.

Meanwhile Hermione had finished with the floors, making them sparkle they were so clean. Then she decided she deserved a short break. She grabbed a class of water then sat down at one of the tables.

Draco was working on his third sink when he realized each one had a hose hooked up to it. He turned on the faucet, and tried it out. It had a lot of pressure behind it. I quietly pulled it out of the hole in the sink, and crept up to Hermione. When he was as far away as the hose would go, he pulled the trigger and blasted Hermione's head with the water. She squealed and jumped out of the chair. Turning around she saw what was going on, then ran over to the nearest sink, turned the water onto boiling hot, and sprayed him right back.

Draco had forgotten there was more than one hose in the room. It turned into a full on water fight. But they had both forgotten that Joe was sitting right outside the room. "What is going on in…." His voice had startled them both, and they turned towards the door. Unfortunately so did their hoses.

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A/N: Hey guys! What do ya'll think? If you like the story please review it. Also, I want to find someone to beta my story. If you're interested then send me a message. Thank you for reading!

Ashleyd2011


	2. Attached at the Wrist

A/N: Hey all, thanks to all of you who decided to keep reading my story. Did you know you can see what country people are from who click on your story? People from all over the world are reading mine, that's sooo cool!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Draco and Hermione found themselves being carried under each of Joes arms, all the way up to Principal Annie's office, for the 2nd time that day. They were both a little worried, the big man didn't look too happy, and they couldn't really blame him; his shirt was completely soaked.

He set them down at the door, and walked in without knocking. "Hello, how can I----what happened??" She stood up and walked around her desk to get a closer look. "You two do realize you were supposed to wash the room, not each other right?" Their clothes were so wet they were dripping all over her office. She really wanted to do a drying charm, before they ruined her nice carpet, but it was out of the question.

"Well? What happened this time?" She should have known better than to ask such a loaded question. They both started shouting at one. She waited for them to get it out of their systems before directing the question to Joe.

"Well ma'am I was sitting right outside the door when I heard a whole bunch of shoutin' going on, so I opened the door to investigate when suddenly I was bombarded by water from the hoses from the sink."

"I see," she said, glaring down at the two biggest pains in her ass. "Joe, why don't you go home, I've got it from here." He nodded, glared at Draco and Hermione one more time, and then left the office. She turned her attention back to the students and noticed they were both glaring at each other again.

"Is it really that hard to make it a few hours without trying to destroy each other?" Before they could answer she said, "That was a rhetorical question. Obviously manual labor isn't enough to teach you a lesson. I'm just gonna have to try something even better tomorrow." She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of this before. Sure it was a little unethical, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I want both of you to be here in my office tomorrow at 7:30. Now go home and change before you catch something." At least this time they had the decency to save there incessant arguing 'till they had left. She just heard the beginnings of "You're such a stupid prat," before they were out of ear shot.

She let out a sigh, before packing up her stuff and heading home. She had a lot of prep work she needed to do before morning.

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When Hermione got home she headed into the kitchen where she knew someone would be. Marie was just putting something in the oven, and then turned around. "Hey Hermione, how was school?" She really did like her foster mom, she was very sweet.

"It started out pretty good….but I've kinda got detention for the next week: before and after school." She didn't look Marie in the eye as she said this, yet she could still sense the disappointment washing from her.

"What did you and that Malfoy boy do this time?" For some reason, she always made it sound like her and Malfoy were in cahoots or something.

"I maybe, kinda, sorta punched him in the face." She reached for an apple, but Marie swatted her hand away.

"Why on earth did you do that?"

Hermione really wished she had thought up what to say on her long walk home. "He stole my journal and was about to read it to everyone. I had to do something! And then we had to go clean up the Home EC classroom, and got in a water fight, and now we're in even bigger trouble."

She looked up at her, and it was as though Marie had just noticed how wet Hermione was. "Oh dear, you better go get yourself cleaned up and in some dry clothes. We'll talk about this later Hermione. And can you send the boys down here to finish their chores?"

"Sure." She walked up the creaky stairs to the boys room. Marie and Bob were also taking care of three boys. At least I'm not as bad as them, she thought to herself, as she told them to go downstairs. Then she walked into her room, and started getting ready for dinner. Afterwards, she really needed to call one of her friends, maybe Jenna or Lindsey.

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When Draco got home he walked straight to his room. On the way home, the driver had told him his parents had gone to a fancy party and wouldn't be home until late. There was money on the counter for him to order something, but he wasn't really that hungry. He just wanted to get out of his wet clothes and take a nice hot shower.

When he got out, he went to lie down on his bed and started thinking. Thinking about earlier that day when he had grabbed Hermione's journal. She may think her punch had been what stopped him from reading it to everyone, but it was what he had read in those few seconds, that had really stopped him in his tracks.

_I really miss mom and dad. They seem to be slipping away from me a little more everyday. And I'm sure Bob and Marie are going to send my back to the orphanage after all the fights I've been getting into lately…._

As much as he hated the girl, Draco wasn't completely heartless. And he knew those fights she was talking about were because of him, not that he always started it. Maybe I should lay off a little bit, just for a while. After all, if Hermione left, who would he torment all day long? And with that thought he got off the bed and went downstairs to order some Chinese food.

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Hermione got off the bus in front of the school around 7:25, about the same time she saw a black shiny limo pull up in the busses only lane. She hurried into the school, hoping to get there before Malfoy caught up to her. She had spent most of the night wondering what punishment Miss DeBoard had in store for them this time. The worst one she could remember was going up on the roof and cleaning off all the debris; she really did hate heights.

She reached the office and knocked on the door. A voice told her to go in, and she opened the door right as she heard footsteps hurrying down the halls. She walked in and sat down in a chair in front of Miss DeBoard's desk. She looked up a few seconds later to see Malfoy walk in and sit down next to her.

Miss DeBoard had been looking for something in her briefcase when they walked in, but now that she had found what she had been looking for she looked up at them. "Well I hope this will teach you guys a lesson. I've decided that your punishment will be this." She opened the box on her desk and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. She looked at their faces and saw them look confused for a moment. Then she saw it click, and both looked a little pale.

"Everyday I want you to report to my office, where I will handcuff both of you to each other. You will then spend the day with one another, and maybe that will teach you to get along. When school is over, you'll come see me and I'll unlock you."

Hermione looked horrified. Being stuck to Draco Malfoy was probably the very last thing she ever wanted to do. "Miss DeBoard, how long will we have to do this?"

The principal looked at her. "Until I decide you two have learned to get along."

"I am not going to let you attach me to that thing!" Draco seemed to finally come to his senses.

"Well Mr. Malfoy, it's this or I expel you for fighting, as well as doing $1000 worth of water damage to the Home EC classroom. Which reminds me, you two will also have kitchen duty for however long it takes to pay back the school."

This seemed to shut them up, and Annie walked over to them. "Give me your arms please. Thank You." She walked back to her desk, and pulled out two pieces of paper. "Here is your new schedule." She handed them each a copy. "Now, you're dismissed. And remember, the sooner you learn this lesson, the sooner it will be over."

She watched them walk out of her office, and then laughed. This should be fun, she thought, as she pulled out a little screen. She had placed a charm on the handcuffs that would let her see and hear everything that happened.

********************

Draco and Hermione had walked down a few hallways before realizing they had nowhere to go. They stopped and looked around for a few moments, then Hermione said, "Why don't we go to the library?" Draco looked at her like she was nuts.

"I'm not a nerdy bookworm, so why would I want to spend my free time with one in the library?" She glared at him

"Can you please try to be nice, I'm not happy about this either, and I want to hurry up and be as far away from you as possible. There won't be a lot of people in the library, so if we go there, we won't have to deal with everyone staring at us."

As good an idea as it sounded, Draco didn't want her to know he liked her idea. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything better, so he reluctantly started walking towards the library. At least none of his friends would be caught dead there.

They spent the 15 minutes before class started sitting in an empty corner trying to pretend the other wasn't there. Hermione pulled out her new schedule, and saw that it wasn't really all the different. The warning bell rang, and they both picked their stuff up and headed to Spanish 3 with Señora DeAndrade.

When they walked into the classroom, Hermione saw her friend Kyle sitting at the front table, and went to sit next to him. "What do you think you're doing Granger? I don't want to sit with that freak all period." He started to walk to a table at the back of the class but Hermione didn't budge.

"Kyle is not a freak, you jerk, and I don't want to sit all the way back there. I want to sit with my friend and pretend you don't exist." She tried to sit at the table, but Malfoy wouldn't move either.

"I agreed to go to the library; it's only fair that I get to sit where I want now." He smirked at her, and started to drag her to the back of the room.

"We never agreed on that. And stop dragging me like a dog on a leash!" But he didn't. He kept walking 'till he reached the table and sat down. She tried to drag him back, but he didn't move. Sighing in defeat, she sat down as far away as the handcuffs would let her, and mouthed "sorry" to Kyle.

By this time the entire class was staring at them weird; all wondering what was going on. Señora D. walked into the room and began her lesson. Hermione really hated this teacher. She was so bubbly and high pitched, and annoyed the crap out of her. This was going to be a long day, she thought to herself.

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An hour and a half later, Draco and Hermione were sitting in the Mr. Nichols' Chemistry classroom. Hermione was looking very smug, because it was her turn, and she was sitting next to Kyle and Hannah. They were busy checking their homework with Kyle's (the brainiack) Draco just rolled his eyes at them. Honestly! She made it so hard to try and be nice. Not that he was really trying.

Mr. Nichols walked into the room, gave a quick glance towards Hermione and Draco, trying not to laugh, and started taking attendance. When he was done, he began going over their to do list.

"Today we're going to be doing an Acids and Bases lab. Get in groups of 2, find a workstation, and wait for my instructions. Go!" Everyone got up and started claiming each other. Draco and Hermione reluctantly went over to one of the tables. Hermione was really annoyed. Usually she worked with Kyle, who always knew what to do. Draco was just glad he didn't have to listen to Kiera tell Mckennzie about her sex life any more.

"Ok class, what you're going to do is see how much of the Hydroflouric Acid it takes to neutralize the base in front of you. Obviously the HF is diluted, as in its regular form it is strong enough to go right through your skin. However, it is still dangerous, so PLEASE do us all a favor and don't spill it on anything, including you. There's also a packet on the table with all the instructions. Get to work."

There was a bunch of bustling around the classroom as each group began getting their lab ready for action. Hermione grabbed the packet, while Draco stood there next to her looking bored. "Ok, first we need to measure out 10 mg of the dish detergent, and then test its pH level." Draco continued to stare off into space. "Hello! Earth to idiot, the detergent is right next to you."

He looked at her. "So, what's that got to do with anything?"

"I can't reach it, so could you please grab the base, put it in the middle and grab a pH strip from the box next to you, and start paying attention!" She didn't realize how loud she was getting, 'till she looked around and saw a bunch of heads turned towards her staring.

"Fine Granger, and next time can you try NOT making me deaf?" He smirked, and handed her the detergent and pH strip. She took it and measured out the 10 mg. "What? No thank you? Where are your manners?"

Hermione didn't answer, just went on to step 2. "Ok, now we need to measure out 20 ml of the HF into a glass beaker." So she grabbed a pipette and started doing it. Draco was getting more bored by the minute, and could feel a yawn coming on any second. Without thinking he took his hand and covered his mouth right in time for the yawn.

A second later the whole class heard a loud, "DAMNIT MALFOY!" Mr. Nichols looked over and was about to tell her off for swearing when he realized what had happened. Hermione had rushed to the sink and was rinsing her hand with water and the base detergent, while the HF was spreading all across the table. Nichols rushed into the back room and grabbed a cleaning product and instructed Brady, a senior in the class, to take care of the table. He walked over to Hermione to check on her hand. It was starting to turn red, whether from the acid or from the scrubbing he wasn't sure.

"Miss Granger, I think you should hurry down and see the nurse. The HF shouldn't do much damage, but we'll want to make sure. Obviously you can go with her Draco." Hermione began storming out of the room, with Draco following her. When they left the room he couldn't help but laugh. This was two days in a row that he'd gotten out of class.

But laughing was probably the dumbest thing he could have done at the moment. "What the hell is your problem Malfoy?! Making me dump that HF all over everywhere, my hand is burning and you're laughing?"

Draco decided to just keep his mouth shut and let her rant.

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A/N: So what did you guys think? Please review!


	3. What Happened This Time?

A/N: Sorry it took so long, I was at my grandparents for a few days and they don't have internet…=(

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Harry Potter

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When they got to the nurse's office, again, Hermione knocked on the door and walked inside. "You two again? What happened this time?" The nurse walked over to them.

"This idiot made me spill Hydrofluoric Acid on my hand. I rinsed it off with water and soup, but Nichols said I should come see you." The nurse took her hand and looked at it.

"Well Ms. Granger, it doesn't look too bad, does it hurt?"

"It just stings a little bit."

"Alright, you should be fine. But I'm going to put some ointment on it and wrap it up. Wait here." She walked over to the counter and started rummaging through the drawers. Hermione walked over and sat down on one of the cots. Obviously Draco followed her.

"You know Granger, you don't have to keep calling me an idiot." Not that he cared or anything, but it was getting a little bit annoying.

"I'm just stating facts Malfoy. How could you forget your hand was practically attached to mine?"

"I was tired, I yawned, and I covered my mouth. What's the big deal anyway? It's not like you're going to lose your hand or anything." So what if her hand was a little red? There was no damage done.

Before Hermione could say anything else, the nurse was back and tending to her hand. Once it was all wrapped up they left the office and decided to just go hang out in the cafeteria and wait for lunch to start. Neither one of them particularly wanted to go back to chemistry.

When they got there, a lunch lady saw them and came towards them. "Hey, there you are! Get in the kitchen, wash your hands, grab some gloves, and get ready to serve some food." Geez, Hermione thought, that was one bitchy lunch lady.

"What's she talking about Granger?" Draco was looking around confused.

"We have kitchen duty, remember? Thanks to that fight you dragged me into yesterday." She was still pissed at him for that. The walk home in those wet clothes had left her with a runny nose, and she hated that.

"Oh," Draco said, and they walked into the kitchen to start getting ready. Once that was done, they found out they were stuck with dish duty. At least no one would see them in the back.

********************

About 25 minutes later the dishes started piling in, as the fast eaters were just finishing up. They each had to put the dishes in a rack, and then push them through the machine that would wash them. Then they had to put the dishes away. Pretty simple, except when you're handcuffed to someone. They were constantly getting pulled and shoved in opposite directions. Everyone in the kitchen could hear muttered insults, but they just shook their heads and went on with their jobs.

Hermione had just about had enough of this. She was sick of being handcuffed to Draco Malfoy. And it hadn't even been a whole day yet!

Draco's feelings were about the same. He hadn't seen any of his friends all day. Probably a good thing, considering the circumstances, but annoying all the same. Hermione had to be the worst person he'd ever been forced to hang around.

About this time the majority of the students had finished their lunch and were bringing in their trays. They could fit about 15 trays into one rack, and they pushed through about 10 racks before going over to put them away. They each stacked up some trays, and picked up about 30 to return. They were made out of thin plastic, so they weren't really that heavy.

They started walking towards where the trays were kept. Draco wasn't paying much attention to his feet, and about 2 seconds later stepped on a very wet spot on the floor. Normally, that wouldn't have been a big deal, but carrying a bunch of trays makes keeping one's balance tougher. The trays went flying in the air and he landed painfully on his back.

Hermione was really mad. One minute she was walking across the kitchen and the next thing she knew there was a crash, and she was jerked off her feet. The trays she had been carrying were scattered everywhere, and she suddenly found herself on top of Malfoy, who groaned and felt the air leaving his lungs.

"Granger, could you please get OFF of me?" He was embarrassed enough at having fallen in the first place, and now his back was killing him. But Hermione wasn't happy either.

"What is wrong with you, you dumbass!" She tried getting up with one hand, then grabbed a tray nearby and started hitting him in the head. Draco wasn't going to just sit there and let her beat him up. He picked up a tray too, and hit her back.

"Do you think I wanted to fall? It was an accident." She hit him with the tray again.

"I don't care if it was an accident. Thanks to you I'm covered in old food and water….again!"

They started whacking each other, turning it into an all out war. By this time though, everyone had arrived in the back to see what all the commotion was about. Mr. Sugg, the Vice Principal, ran over and grabbed the trays out of their hands. "What is going on here??"

Hermione looked around now, noticing for the first time just how big a crowd had shown up, and wondering just how long they had been there. She was too stunned to say anything, so Draco started his story.

"We were putting trays away when I slipped and fell. She fell too, and the next thing I know I'm being ambushed by her and that tray. I couldn't let her just keep hitting me, so I grabbed a tray too and hit her back."

Hermione was totally annoyed by this, but couldn't think of anything to defend herself with. After all, everything he said was true.

"Miss. Granger, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

She looked up at him, trying to think of something to get her out of this mess, but the only thing she could come up with was, "He deserved it." This made Mr. Sugg laugh, on the inside of course. On the outside he was scowling at them.

"Both of you go to Miss DeBoard's office. But first, pick up all of these trays." He couldn't believe the messes the two trouble makers could make in so little time. "As for the rest of you," he said to the onlookers, "get back to whatever you were doing." It took a few moments, but eventually the kitchen was empty of everyone who didn't belong there.

Hermione started picking up the trays, mumbling angrily to herself. She looked over at Draco and found him just standing there staring off into space. She took one of the trays, looked around to make sure no one was looking, and threw it at his face. This brought him out of his day dreaming, and now he was glaring at her. "Why are you so obsessed with hitting me with trays?"

"If you'd stop being a jerk, and start picking up trays I wouldn't have to." He didn't respond to that, so she went back to picking up trays. He reluctantly did too.

It took them about five minutes to get their mess cleaned up, and then they were on their way to the Principal's office….for the third time in two days.

********************

Annie DeBoard had been watching Draco and Hermione all day, and frankly she wasn't pleased. Sure, she knew miracles didn't happen overnight, but they weren't even making any progress. If anything they were getting worse. Maybe she had made a mistake in how she went about this.

The prophecy specifically said the only way to save the world is if they could learn to get along. They were the only two people in the world who could stop Voldemort from taking over the world. She looked into her screen and saw that Draco and Hermione were almost at her office. Still arguing about whose fault all of it was.

Annie sighed. If this plan didn't start working fast, she'd just have to come up with something better. What that could be, she had no idea.

She heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

Two heads poked into her office. They slowly walked in and took their seat, apparently expecting her to start shouting any second. She was resolved not to lose her head this time around. "Well, what happened this time?" She already knew what had happened, but she was kind of curious why it had.

Hermione spoke first. "I got mad," she said simply, as if that explained everything. Draco snorted at this and Annie thought she heard him mutter something.

"What was that Mr. Malfoy? He looked up at her, apparently not realizing he'd said anything out loud.

"I said, that's the biggest understatement I've ever heard. She started attacking me with a tray!" When Annie looked over at Hermione to see her reaction, she was smirking. She stopped as soon as she realized she was being watched.

"Well guys, I really don't know what to do with you. No matter what punishment I give you, you guys just get into even more trouble. Why is it so hard for you to stop trying to kill each other?" She paused and waited for one of them to speak. They continued to sit there in silence. For once this was not what she wanted.

"Get back to class." Draco and Hermione both looked up at her shocked. They must have been expecting more than that. To be honest though, Annie was too tired. She was running out of ideas, and they didn't seem to care. "Well? Are you going to keep sitting there all day? I said get to class!"

They both jumped up and hastily left her office. She sighed, slumped down in her chair, and put her head on her desk. "What to do, what to do…." She said to no one in particular. Her phone rang then. "Hello?" There was a woman on the other end telling her the toilets in the boys bathroom in the cafeteria were clogged up. She hung up, then called the janitor to go fix it.

********************

Jerry was in the boys bathroom cleaning up the worst mess he had ever seen. Every toilet was clogged, there was crap on the walls, and it smelled like someone had set off a dung bomb or two. He had already fixed two of the four toilets in there. The third was almost finished too, but it wasn't going to go down without a fight, and Jerry got splashed in the face by something he'd rather not think about.

"Shit!" He stood up and dropped the plunger. "I did not come here to plunge toilets and clean up after stupid teenage boys." He looked around quickly, then shut and locked the door. Then he walked over to his janitor cart, and pulled out his wand. He then proceeded to clean the bathroom till it was spotless, without lifting a finger.

He put his wand away, left the bathroom, and headed back to his office, which was not much bigger than a broom closet. When he got there, Jerry sat down and pulled out a binder. Inside of it were all of his notes on every student in the school. He'd been keeping tabs on them all, trying to find a pair who fit the prophecy.

He'd spent the last 15 years at the damn school, and still nothing. However things were going to change. When he got to work that day, he was immediately sent to the Home EC room to clean up a mess that two students had made the day before.

And this wasn't the first fight they'd gotten into either. It was a reoccurring problem, that had all the teachers going out of their minds. He found Draco Malfoy's and Hermione Granger's info, and was shocked. He hurriedly pulled out his copy of the prophecy and skimmed through it.

"Oh my god, how could I have been so stupid? They've been right in front of me!" Jerry stood up and started pacing. Yes he may have found them, but now he realized this was just the beginning. He'd heard some of the horror stories. "How am I going to get them together when so many have already failed?"

He suddenly felt a burning sensation on his arm. He lifted his sleeve and saw the faint outline of his dark mark. "I know my lord," he said to the air around him, "I'll think of something."

He sat back down at his desk, and began trying to think of a way to get the two students to fulfill the prophecy and ensure the never ending reign of Lord Voldemort.

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A/N: So what do you guys think? Please review!!


	4. You Guys Would Make a Good Match

A/N: Hey guys! I have no excuse for not writing except I just didn't feel like it *sheepish grin* Everyone seen the new Potter movie? I saw it at midnight woohoo! So anyway, here it is hope ya'll enjoy!

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Draco and Hermione managed to make it to their AP Euro class without doing anymore damage. However, neither one had had a chance to eat lunch, which was making them both even more temper-mental than usual. They entered the classroom, and Hermione heard Jenna call her name. She waved back, then looked at Draco. She was well aware that it was his turn to pick their seat, but at the same time she was dying to talk to Jenna. And by the way Jenna was bouncing in her seat, she new Jenna was anxious to talk to her as well.

Draco was well aware of what the look meant, however, considering his lunch experience, nice was the very last thing on his to-do list. He simply scowled at her, then walked over to sit next to his friend Keith. Keith was a very odd character, but as far as Draco's evil cronies go, Keith wasn't too bad.

Draco immediately started up a conversation with him, and Hermione looked over at Jenna, who was looking completely confused. Hermione looked around to find Mr. Burke, who was sitting at his desk finishing off his lunch, and then pulled out her phone. "Hey sorry! Malfoy's an ass and wants everything his way =(" She looked over and mouthed phone. Jenna pulled hers out, then looked up and scowled. Hermione looked down at her phone again.

"Ugh, sorry chica. Look at the brightside, you can bug the crap outa him way easier now =P" Hermione snorted at that, causing Draco to look at her weird, before going back to talking about the next soccer game. Then the bell rang, and Mr. Burke got up to the front of the room and began talking about the Renaissance Era.

"Any suggestions oh wise one?" There was a few minutes before she got a reply.

"Nope, but I'm sure you'll think of something =P."

"Gee Jenna, not helpful." Hermione sighed and started trying to think of something.

"Maybe you could try messing with his head…like, make him think he's losing it. Hide his stuff, maybe put some loopy pills in his drink…."

"Haha, maybe, thanks for trying =)"

"Well, someone's gotta put that stuck up jack ass in his place, might as well be you. Uh oh, I think Burke is glaring at you, ttyl" Hermione stuffed her phone in her pocket, and began to pay attention.

The rest of class went by rather quickly, and when the bell rang Hermione nearly jumped out of her chair, anxious to get through her last class of the day. If only it wasn't English with Heckman. She had to be the worst, most incompetent teacher at the entire school, maybe entire world. Jenna had the class next door so she walked with them.

********************

Draco and Hermione walked out of the classroom, and headed to Miss DeBoard's office to be set free. Draco spent the walk in awe of Miss Goody Two Shoes walking next to him. He had never seen her so horrible to someone other than him. It was kind of interesting. About ten minutes into the class, Hermione was sitting in her chair with her fists clenched, and her mouth squeezed shut tight. It looked like she desperately wanted to punch someone.

They knocked on the office door and walked inside. Miss DeBoard was sitting behind her desk, like always, and stood up when they entered. "I'm impressed, you guys managed to make it two classes without doing anything." She walked over with a key and unlocked the handcuffs.

"Oh thank god! I'm free!" Hermione shouted the second the handcuff was off her wrist. She saw Annie looking at her funny. "Did I say that out loud?" Annie nodded, and Hermione blushed a bright red.

"Wow Granger, it's nice to know how much you love being around me." She looked at him as if he were stupid, which he was, she thought to herself.

"Well no duh Malfoy, you're an annoying, good for nothing, rich boy without a care for anyone but yourself, and if I have to go another minute in your presence I think I might kill myself."

"Well I'm sorry I'm not a prissy know it all bitch like you. Didn't your parents teach you any manners? Wait, I forgot, they died before they could didn't they?"

"Mr. Malfoy! Watch your tongue!" But the principle's words weren't heard by either of the students. Hermione had suddenly become very quiet, and for a moment all she could do was stare at him in shock.

"You're right Malfoy, my parents are dead. But I'm going to go home to a nice home cooked meal with a family who cares about me. What are you going home to? An empty house with money on the table and a note that says don't wait up? At least my parents loved me for the little while I had them, unlike those people you live with who couldn't care less about you. So why don't you do them and me a huge favor and just disappear." She looked over at the principal. "I don't care if you expel me, I will never, let you handcuff me to him again."

And with that she walked out of the office, and down to the buses. She grabbed a seat in the middle, and when it got to her stop she calmly walked off and inside her house. Marie called out to her, "Hey Hermione, what do you want for dinner tonight?"

Hermione told her she didn't care, then went up to her room and fell onto her bed.

She stared at the ceiling for a while, then opened one of her drawers and pulled out a picture of her, her mom and her dad, sitting on a park bench eating ice cream. She had been four when they died. A drunk driver had slammed into them on their way home from seeing a movie. It wasn't an extremely serious crash, and they would have been just fine, but when the car hit them, it damaged the fuel tank, and a few seconds later the car exploded.

She used to cry when she thought about them. But now she had become numb to the pain. She continued to lie on her bed until she heard Marie call her down for dinner. She put her picture away, put a smile on her face, then walked down to the kitchen for some beef stroganoff.

********************

Draco watched Hermione leave the room, speechless and unable to move his feet. How did she know so much about him? He turned around and saw Miss DeBoard looking at him. He scowled at her, then stormed out of her office. He didn't really know where he was going, but his feet didn't care. Eventually he found himself near the school basement. He started to turn around and head back up to the buses, but was stopped by a man in a jumpsuit standing right in front of him. "Hello there, you're Draco Malfoy right?" Draco had no idea who this man was, and he was no mood to talk to anybody at the moment, so he answered him with a short nod. "Well it's nice to meet you. My name is Severus Snape, I'm a janitor here." Draco continued to stare blankly at him, though inside he was beginning to get annoyed with this Snape fellow.

"Anyway, saw you and that Granger girl today, and I was just curious what was up with the handcuffs? I don't mean to be nosy, just always been a curious guy."

Draco scowled at him, the last thing he wanted to do was talk about Granger. "It was one of Miss DeBoard's more idiotic ideas on how to get us to stop fighting. Obviously it didn't work. Big surprise there." He was a little shocked to see the guy scowling at him as well.

"Hmmm, that's too bad. You two fighting I mean. From what I've seen you guys would make quite a match. She seems to like looking at you." He smirked at that. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I've got some work to get done. Thanks for indulging my curiosity."

Draco walked quickly up the stairs and outside to get onto the bus. He spent the ride home thinking about that odd man. He must be deranged, he thought to himself. As if him and Granger could possibly be an OK match, let alone a good one. And the only way she ever looked at him was with disgust, and that's how he liked it.

He walked into his house, and it was no surprise that there was a note taped to the fridge. Apparently they had been invited to dine with the mayor at a big fancy charity ball. As much as he had been expecting it, he couldn't help the empty feeling in his stomach. He attributed it to being annoyed that Granger was right again. But deep down he knew that was just a lame excuse. He had hoped that for once they might be waiting for him when he got home. He went up to his room and laid down on his bed.

He began to fantasize about the way he had always pictured a family should be. He'd walk through the door after school, and find it smelling like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. He'd hear his mother in the kitchen humming a little tune to herself. He'd walk in, and she would walk over and give him a big hug, and he'd go "mom!" in that whiney voice of his, but he would hug her back and try to steal one of the cookies. Of course she would slap his hand away and say, "those are for after dinner Draco." Then he'd go upstairs and work on his homework. Then he'd hear the front door open and he'd go down to see his father taking off his coat. He'd say "Draco, how was school today?" and Draco would reply, "It was alright. How was work?" And they would continue making small talk as they headed into the kitchen. Then his mom would say, "Hey honey." And walk over to give his dad a peck on the cheek, and then they'd sit down to dinner.

But Draco knew that would never happen. His parents were "far too important" for such displays of affection, and "far too busy" to sit down together, or talk about anything besides his future. But there was nothing he could do about things. So he stood up and went downstairs to order some pizza, and pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind.

********************

Annie watched the scene with dismay. She wasn't sure she'd be able to fix this problem. Before their fights had simply been little pranks, and the occasional slap of two. But this was different. What they had said had been harsh, and words are so much worse than simple fights. They go down deeper than any punch can reach. And they last much longer than any bruise.

She walked over to her chair and sat down. She put her head in her hands and sighed. She was out of ideas, which was not acceptable. There were too many things at stake for her to give up, especially after how long she had waited to find them. There was only one person she could think of to turn to. Only one person smart and devious enough to help her. She walked over to her door and locked it, and then over to her fireplace. She threw in some powder and called out, "Hogwarts," and disappeared in a flash of green light.

********************

Severus Snape walked back to his office. His plan was to start planting seeds into their minds that, just maybe, they weren't really as bad as they seem. Of course, they were filthy muggles, and worse than they seemed, but one's got to do what one's got to do. When he reached his office, he sat down and began to think about the principal.

"What is she up to? What could she possibly gain from solving their issues, and why was she going to such lengths to achieve it? He pulled out her file, and began flipping through it. She had shown up at the school ten years previously, the same day as he did funny enough. She had no known family, and as far as any of her coworkers knew, she lived and breathed her job, leaving only to eat and sleep.

"Maybe she's trying out matchmaker to fill the hole in her chest." He laughed at his little joke, then put away her file, and left to go home. Hopefully not alone wink wink.

A/N: So what do ya'll think? Let me know by pushing that little review button. It'll sure guilt me into getting the next chapter done and up quicker =)


	5. Of All the Times Not to be a KnowItAll

A/N: Hey guys! I'm trying to get a new chapter out either every day or every other day. We'll see if I stick to that.

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Annie walked into her office that morning around 6, and poured herself a cup of coffee. Then she walked over to her desk and sat down. She grabbed her briefcase, and pulled out two vials filled with a purple potion, which was, hopefully, the solution to her problem.

The night before, she had gone to visit Prof. Dumbledore at Hogwarts to get his help. When she appeared in his fireplace, he was so startled he almost hexed her, but at seeing who had popped in, he rushed over and gave her a hug.

_"Annie! It's so good to see you, it's been much too long. How is your search going? Here, lets take a seat and catch up." They walked over to his desk and she sat down across from him. He offered her a lemon drop, and she gladly took one._

_"Well sir, I believe I've found them." She saw his mouth open wide._

_"Really? That's wonderful! Why don't you look excited? We've finally discovered the key to destroying Voldemort, you should be proud."_

_"Well you see sir, there's a slight problem. They hate each other, and I'm out of ideas. I need your help to bring them together, or there's no hope." He was silent for a few moments, then walked over to the back of the room. He started mumbling to himself, and opening and closing drawers and cabinets. He seemed to find what he was looking for though, and began mixing together some sort of concoction._

_He let it simmer in a cauldron, and walked back over to her. "This would be so much easier if I could go down to Prof. Slughorn, but the less people who know about this the better. What I'm brewing is a sort of dream potion. You'll give it to them, and they will immediately be sent into a dream world together. There they will have to make it through many tasks before they will be allowed back."_

_"Kind of like a muggle video game?" Annie asked, trying to understand._

_"Yes Annie, something like that. With one major difference. Everything that happens while they're there will be completely real for them, which makes this a dangerous potion. But desperate times call for desperate measures. In their minds, they'll be sent anywhere in the world, even anytime period."_

_"How long will they be gone? We can't just make them disappear! They have school, they have friends, they have families, people would get suspicious."``"Hmmm, you have a point. The time it takes varies from person to person. It depends on how long it takes them to finish. But you are the principal. You could tell their families they're on a field trip, and tell the school they're sick."_

_"Alright, but how do I get them to drink it?"_

_She saw his eyes twinkle, "You're a smart witch. I'm sure you'll think of something." He looked over at the potion. "Looks like it's just about done. Now, it's important that you give it to them in a place where no one else will see. It only takes a few moments to take effect, and then it will be as if they are in a deep sleep." He walked over and stirred the potion a few times, then poured it into two vials._

_"It's imperative that they drink the entire vial. And they must both drink it at the same time to ensure that they are together. Otherwise the whole plan is pointless." He handed her the vial, and Annie walked over to the fireplace. "One more thing, good luck." He waved good bye to her, and she disappeared in a flash of green._

She took two mugs and poured the potions into both of them. Then she filled them up the rest of the way with tea, and put a spell on it to keep it hot. By now it was around 6:30. It would be about an hour before Draco and Hermione showed up at her office. That is if they were planning on showing up at all. She remembered the day before perfectly, and wasn't sure how the meeting would end up. Hopefully they had been able to cool down a bit.

She still couldn't believe what they had said to each other. If it wasn't a life or death situation, she would never make them see each other again. She took a sip of her coffee and began catching up on the work she'd been putting off lately.

********************

Hermione was almost at school, and she still hadn't decided what she should do. She didn't know if she was still supposed to go to Miss DeBoard's office, considering there was no way she'd ever spend anymore of her precious time in Malfoy's presence. The bus pulled up, and she headed to the library to study for her Spanish test 1st period.

Luck wasn't on her side however. When she entered the library, the librarian Ms. Reynolds told her she was to head to the principal's office immediately. Great, she thought, just perfect. She turned around and began the long trek to her office.

She knocked on the door, and then walked inside. She was annoyed, yet not surprised, to see Malfoy already sitting in front of Miss DeBoard's desk. She reluctantly sat down in the other chair, and looked expectantly at the principal.

"I know this is the last place you two want to be right now. However I need to talk to you about something. First, would either of you like some tea?" They both nodded their heads, and she walked over to the coffee maker, and picked up their cups. She handed them over, then returned to her chair.

She waited for them to take a sip, then continued. "I'm sorry that I've been pushing you guys to get along. Apparently, all I've done is make things worse. However, I cannot tolerate your constant fighting, especially since it always leads to damaging school property. So what I'm going to do is lay off, on one condition. No more fighting, no more arguing. If that means you never see each other again, then that's what needs to happen."

Draco and Hermione looked surprised. Whatever they had been expecting that was not it. Hermione took another sip of her tea. It tasted a little funky, but not bad. For some reason she couldn't stop drinking it. Draco was having the same problem.

Annie watched them chug the tea, and had to remind herself to breath. She had already taken care of everything. Draco's family was easy; all she had to do was leave a note on the kitchen counter. Hermione's family had been a little bit harder. She had shown up right after Hermione left for school, and explained the surprise field trip to the beach for the week.

The students finished off their tea and set down their cups. Hermione felt sort of funny. Her head was getting a little fuzzy, and her stomach was starting to gurgle. She tried to stand up to head to the nurses office, but her legs felt like jello, and the next thing she knew everything went black.

Draco was feeling funny as well. He tried not to think about it, but then everything started getting blurry. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and the last thing he saw before everything went black was Hermione starting to fall out of her chair.

Annie stood up and walked over to the unconscious teens, and picked up their dropped mugs. Then she walked over and locked her door, then pulled out her wand and lifted them into the air. She walked over to the closet in the corner of her office, and opened the door. She had enlarged the closet to be able to fit two cots, which is where she placed Draco and Hermione. She stood back and took a close look at them. They were surprisingly peaceful looking considering the circumstances. Then she closed the door and went back to her desk.

********************

Hermione woke up feeling groggy and sore. She looked around and was immediately confused. She was sitting in some sort of clearing surrounded by trees so tall she couldn't see the tops. She had no memory of getting here, and it was scaring the crap out of her. She heard somebody next to her groan, and turned around quickly. She saw Malfoy starting to move, eyes slowly opening, and saw a look of surprise on his face as he looked around him. He must have noticed her staring at him, because two seconds later he had a scowl on his face again. "What are you looking at?"

She glared at him before looking away. "I'm looking at a dumb ass with a spider crawling on his head." She watched him jump up and start swatting at his head. When he heard her laughing he realized there was no spider, and swore under his breath.

"Where are we?" he asked, and the question brought back the fear she had been feeling.

"I have no idea. I was hoping you would know."

Draco glared at her. "Perfect. Of all the times to stop being little miss know-it-all, you just had to pick now."

"Little miss know-it-all? Is that supposed to be an insult?" Before he could answer she said, "The last thing I remember is being in Miss DeBoard's office, and feeling kinda weird. Do you think she had anything to do with this?"

Draco thought for a moment. "It seems like the only logical answer, but why would she drug us and dump us in the middle of a forest? I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"No duh genius. Now how 'bout we try to find a way out of here. The sooner we're out, the sooner I never have to see you again." She looked around and found a path, and figured might as well. She walked towards it, but didn't hear Malfoy walking. "You coming?" Not that she really cared what he did, and under normal circumstances she would just leave him there. But it would be dark soon, and the last thing she wanted was to be in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, by herself. Not that she'd ever admit it of course.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He muttered. He was not happy, not one bit. While Hermione had been looking around, he had pulled out his cell phone to call for help. Unfortunately there was absolutely no service, which was strange and disconcerting. If there was no service, then they had to be pretty far away from civilization. He heard Hermione say something, and realized she was already at the other side of the clearing. Figuring he didn't have any better ideas he followed her.

********************

They had been walking for about two hours now. Hermione, having much shorter legs than Draco, was struggling to keep up. However, she had her pride, and absolutely refused to tell him to slow down.

Draco was getting more and more impatient. The mosquitoes were starting to come out, and they kept buzzing in his face. Not to mention the sun was starting to set and they still hadn't found anybody. He began to hear something up ahead that sounded a bit like running water. He decided to head towards it. He was starting to get really thirsty, and there would most likely be a clearing nearby, where they could spend the night.

Hermione heard the water too. The thought of nice cold water, and a place to sit gave her a little energy boost, and she managed to make it to a nice stump in front of the river before flopping down. She saw Draco take out his phone. "Damn."

"Still no signal then?" she asked, already knowing the answer. He must have found it a stupid question and didn't reply. He walked over to the river, and drank some of the water. Hermione looked around her. It wasn't much different than what she'd been looking at for the past few hours. Everywhere she looked there were more trees. She looked up and realized the sun would be down in a few minutes, and then they'd be stuck in a pitch black forest.

She got up and began gathering some twigs and leaves, and a few small branches. Then she looked around trying to find something to light a fire with. She was really starting to wish she hadn't quit girl scouts so early. Maybe then she'd have a clue how to start a fire.

Draco looked over at her pile, and walked over. Then he began setting the sticks and twigs up in a ay that would make it burn better. Then he pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "Why do you have a lighter?" Hermione asked. He looked at her as if it was a stupid question. "You know what, I'd rather not know."

Within a few minutes the fire was started and it gave off a nice warm glow. They both looked around, and gathered some bigger branches, so they'd have more fuel before it got too dark to see.

Once that was done, they settled themselves around the fire. "I swear, I'm going to kill whoever did this." Hermione heard Malfoy mutter. She felt the same way. She loved spending time in the woods, but she absolutely hated the dark. Well, not the dark, more like what was lurking around in the dark waiting to jump out and kill her. These fears were not helped any by the fact that she was just a few feet away from Draco Malfoy.

It was silent for about ten minutes before Hermione couldn't take it anymore. As much as she didn't want to talk to him, the quite was killing her. "So….isn't this just awesome?" she said. He looked at her like she was nuts. "I was being sarcastic dummy."

"I knew that."

Another silent spell came over them. Hermione couldn't think of anything else to say, and Draco seemed content just to sulk by himself. Then they heard a loud crunch somewhere in the distance. Immediately Hermione's heart began racing. She looked over at Draco and saw he had tensed up and was listening closely for more noise. They heard it again, and it sounded even closer this time.

Draco picked up the biggest branch he could find, and stood up. Hermione did the same, though she was so terrified she could barely hold it up. The crunch noise was getting closer and closer, when finally they saw a squirrel run into view. It stopped immediately when it saw them, then ran in the opposite direction. Draco and Hermione looked at each other then, and couldn't help laughing at how spooked they had gotten.

Then suddenly an arrow whistled right past his ear and thumped into a tree about two inches from his ear. He was so startled he dropped the branch. He looked up and saw about ten tall men standing in the trees; each with an arrow loaded, and just waiting to fire.

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A/N: Man, that chapter was hard to write, but I did it. Sorry if it was a little boring. I'll try to make the next chap more exciting. As always, if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Please review!!


	6. Powhatan's Tribe

A/N: Hey all! I've been camping for the past week with no technology so sorry it took so long to get this up!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter =(

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A few minutes passed in silence as Draco and Hermione stared through the trees at the men in front of them. It was too dark to see what they looked like, but that wasn't their biggest concern at the moment. Neither one of them had a clue what was going on, nor, why someone would be armed with bows and arrows.

Then they saw one of the mysterious strangers step out of the shadows and closer to the fire. He was very tan looking, and wearing only a loin cloth as well as some sort of face paint. Draco tightened his grip on the branch, while Hermione began trying to figure things out.

"Hello, I am Whitehawk. Who are you and why are you on our land?" He spoke in a funny way; very slowly and using lots of hand gestures. He was also looking at them expectantly.

Seeing that Draco was in no hurry to start talking, Hermione summed up her courage and answered the man. "I'm Hermione Granger, and this---she pointed next to her---is Draco Malfoy. We're sorry for intruding, but we have no idea where we are."

Whitehawk looked at them confused for a moment, as if trying to understand what she had said. "You have strange names, and strange clothes." He said finally. Then he walked over to the rest of his group and started speaking in another language.

Hermione looked over at Malfoy, and found he had a very confused look on his face, a look she was sure was on her own face as well. He seemed to notice she was watching him, as he turned towards her and whispered, "There's something off about this. I don't know what's going on, and I'm not sure I want to find out."

Hermione, for once, completely agreed with him. There was something so familiar about these people, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. And not knowing was making her feel even more anxious. She looked back towards the men, and found that Whitehawk was walking back towards them.

"You two are to come with us, and speak with Powhatan." He turned around and called out in the same strange language, and three of the men stepped forward and walked towards them. "You will not be needing those sticks." Whitehawk said, before turning around and leading the group into the forest. The men standing in front of them motioned to drop their branches, and they did so reluctantly. They knew that their makeshift weapon would not do much against arrows, but it was still comforting to know they could do something.

Hermione and Draco starting walking, and the three men followed closely behind them. They were walking for about a half hour or so, when they started to hear voices in the distance. As they drew nearer, Hermione realized they were arriving to a village, made up of wooden cottages. She was positive that no such village existed in any forest anywhere near their hometown, and this realization only worried her more. Just how far away from home were they?

They stopped in front of the biggest hut there, which wasn't really saying much. Whitehawk called out, and a few moments later a huge, dark man, dressed the same as the rest of the men, came outside and stared at the newcomers. Hermione assumed that this man was Powhatan, and that Powhatan was the leader of these people.

The two men began conversing, but were to far away for Hermione to overhear. Not that she'd be able to understand them anyway. A few minutes later the big man walked over to them. He stood in front of Draco. "Hello. Are you Draco?" He asked.

Draco looked uncomfortable, but he still answered, "Yes." The man seemed to think carefully for a minute then continued to speak.

"I am Powhatan, the Chief of the Powhatan Tribe. We have seen many of the white people around here, but you look different."

As he said this, Hermione realized why things were familiar. They were Indians. She remembered watching Pocahontas over and over again as a child, and she knew this was that tribe. But how was this possible? They had all been dead for at least three centuries. And they were in America! She realized she hadn't answered the man, and then noticed he wasn't paying her any attention, but staring expectantly at Draco. She nudged him in the ribs, but he still didn't answer the man, so she took things into her own hands.

"We're lost, and we don't know how to get back home."

Powhatan looked at her, puzzling out what she said. "There is a settlement of your people not far away. We could show you the way." He told her slowly.

Hermione looked at Draco again, who still seemed to be in a daze. "Could you let us discuss this by ourselves for awhile?" Powhatan thought for a moment, then nodded and called out to a man in the crowd. He stepped forward, and continued toward them.

"Take our visitors to the empty hut, and give them blankets." Then he turned back towards them. "You shall stay in our spare hut at the edge of our village. You can sleep there tonight, and we'll talk in the morning." He did a funny hand gesture, then called out to his people in their language, then returned to his home.

The man who had come to them motioned them to follow, and they began walking. Once they had passed the crowd watching them, the man started to speak. "I am Ketonga." (Great Turtle)

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hermione, and this is Draco." She looked at him as she said this, and noticed he was starting to become more alert. She assumed he had figured out where they were too, and wasn't taking it very well.

Ketonga seemed to notice something off about the man as well. "What is wrong with your friend?" he asked her.

Thinking up something quickly she told him, "We woke up near the river, where we were found, and he's been like this since then. I think he may have hit his head."

Ketonga nodded at this. He spoke the language better than any of the others so far had, but he still had a little bit of trouble understanding them. They continued walking a few paces, and then Ketonga spoke again. "We just built this hut," he said as he pointed to their destination. "Monchu (Bear) has taken a wife, and needed a house. However, they are gone to visit her family, so you will have it to yourself." When they reached the entrance, Ketonga waved goodbye, and turned back to the village.

"Thank you!" Hermione shouted to him. He turned to face her, nodded, and continued on his way. Hermione then walked into the hut. It was a lot roomier than it had looked from the outside. She looked at Malfoy, and found him still looking stupid. She was starting to get annoyed with him now.

"MALFOY!!" She screamed and slapped his face. He jumped, not expecting the loud noise, or the painful smack, and glared at her.

"What was that for?!" He cried, getting angrier by the second.

Hermione glared right back. "For being an annoying idiot. Now how 'bout we figure out what the hell is going on around here." She picked up two of the blankets Ketonga had left by the door, and walked over to the fireplace. She started making up her bed, then looked around for some wood. There was a small pile next to her, so she set it up the way she had seen Malfoy do earlier.

She turned around and looked at him expectantly. "What?" he snapped at her.

"Could you please light the fire?" she asked him, her voice filled with fake sweetness.

He sighed, then walked over and worked his magic. The fire crackled into life and began spreading it's warmth throughout the room. Draco looked around him looking confused. "How did we get her anyway?"

Great she thought, he blacked out too. "We walked." She said shortly, and proceeded to lay down under her blanket. "Don't you remember anything?"

He went and grabbed his blankets. "I remember men with arrows, and a big guy talking to us, but after that everything's blank." It looked like saying that took a lot of effort for him. Apparently he didn't like to admit he had no idea what was going on.

"I think we're in America in the 1600's." she told him. He looked at her weird for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Good one Granger. Now where are we really?"

She just stared at him for a few moments then said, "I'm not kidding Malfoy." He noticed her serious tone, and started worrying.

"Ok Granger, if you're trying to be funny, it's not working."  
Hermione sighed in annoyance. "How thick are you! I'm not joking, I'm not trying to be funny. Look at the facts! We're in an Indian village in a forest, with the Powhatan Tribe. It couldn't be more obvious."

Draco was now laying in his own blankets, a few feet away from her. "Alright smarty pants, how did we go from 21st Century England to 17th Century America huh? Can you explain that?" He smirked at her, knowing she couldn't have an answer.

Hermione thought for a few minutes. Draco was beginning to nod off when he heard a cry from Hermione. He jumped a little at the noise, then glared at her. "What are you screaming about now Granger?"

"Malfoy! Do you remember that tea we drank in Miss DeBoard's office?" She asked hurriedly.

"Of course I remember that tea. It was the worst thing I've ever tasted, and that's saying something."

Hermione ignored this. "I think that tea had something to do with what happened. That's the last thing I remember. We were in her office, she gave us some funky tasting tea, and the next thing I know we're stranded in a strange forest."

"That's nice Granger, but how could 'funky tea' transport us across time and space?"

Hermione scowled, more to herself than to him. "I don't know."

"Well then, how about you let me sleep, till you do know." He rolled onto his side, facing away from her.

"Hold on Malfoy. We still need to figure out what we're going to do. Regardless of how or why we're here, when morning comes these people will be expecting to know who we are, and what we're doing."

She heard him groan as he turned back towards her. "How 'bout we say, 'Hello Earthlings, we are from the future.'" He smirked when he saw her glaring at him.

"Seriously Malfoy! This is important."

"I have an idea. You come up with something, and I'll get some sleep. Sound good to you?" He rolled over again, and no matter how many times she yelled at him, he stayed that way. So Hermione spent the rest of the night, not only trying to come up with a story, but trying to figure out just what was going on.

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Draco woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, though unnaturally sore. He looked around to find himself laying in a strange room, on the ground. Damn! He thought, as yesterday's events came rushing back to him. He had been hoping the whole thing had been one big nightmare, and he'd wake up at home.

I sighed, then took a closer look around. Outside he could see the sun just beginning to come up. He saw that the fire had died out quite a long time ago. Then he looked right next to him, and saw Hermione still fast asleep. Her hair was sprayed out around her head in a frizzy mess. He looked at her face, and saw dark circles starting to form. This made him feel a little guilty. She had most likely spent most of the night worrying, and he had ignored her, and had a good nights sleep.

Then he remembered what a jerk she had been, especially when she had startled him out of his trance. He was suddenly filled with anger at her, and came up with an evil idea. He took one last look at her tired, worry filled, pretty face, and got right up close and personal.

"HERMIONE!" he screamed as loud as he could. She gasped, and her eyes flew open, and her fist flew right into his chin. She jumped up, and looked wildly around her. Her eyes landed on Malfoy, sitting on the floor holding his chin in pain, and she couldn't help but laugh.

When he heard her laughing at him, his anger came back full force. "Granger! You good for nothing *itch!" He yelled at her, and stood up. Hermione stopped laughing now. He stormed over to her and pushed her up against the wall. "This is the 3rd time you've hit me in the past week and I'm sick of it!"

"If you don't get away from me right now, I'll make that four times!" Hermione growled. He opened his mouth to shout back, but they heard a knock on the door. Draco backed up, and saw Ketonga standing at the entrance with a basket of fruit and smoked salmon.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything," he said quietly, "but I've brought you some breakfast." He set the basket down on the floor. "Once you've finished, Chief Powhatan has asked that you meet with him. It's the biggest hut in the center of the village." He then hurried away.

"Well, since I'm good for nothing, I guess you don't need to hear my plan." Hermione said, and walked over to the food and picked out a bunch of grapes and sat down again.

Draco was ashamed of himself. She had only punched him because he had gone and scared the hell outa her. However, he was not about to apologize to her. He still had his pride after all.

He grabbed some fish, and went outside and sat across from Hermione. "What's your plan Granger?" He asked nonchalantly.

She looked up at him. "Why should I tell you? It's not like you care what I think." She muttered angrily.

So she was going to make things difficult. "Well of course I don't care what you think. But I do care about getting home again, preferably with everything still intact. So…please…tell me your plan." It nearly killed him to add in please, but he knew that was the only way he could get her to tell him anything, without having to apologize.

He could tell that she was thinking. For a few minutes she just sat there eating her grapes, and saying nothing. Then she looked up at him. "We tell them the white settlers threw us out of their camp, and we've got no where to go. That way they'll let us stay here for awhile, and we'll have more time to figure out how to get back home."

It wasn't the greatest plan he'd ever heard, but it wasn't horrible, and he couldn't think of anything better. He nodded, and said "I guess that will work for now." They finished eating their breakfast, then walked into the village to talk to Powhatan.

As they walked, Draco noticed that everyone was staring at them. Apparently they didn't get visitors that often. A few of the natives followed a ways behind them. When they reached Powhatan's house, he was already coming out to greet them.

"Hello! I hope you had a good night. Why don't you come into my house, and we can talk without so many ears around." So the three of them walked inside, and began their story.

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A/N: So what did ya'll think? Hope it was worth the wait!


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